Swift
1. Bear Notch Road to Rocky Gorge(Upper Swift)
| Difficulty | I-III |
| Length | 3.8 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 2, 2018 |
River Description
Mike Gatewood:
This section starts of with a lot of flatwater paddling, the scenery is great and you are away from the Kanc so there is no road noise. It gradually builds into class II and then is class III by the time you get to the takeout above Rocky Gorge/Upper Falls. You want to scout the takeout to get your bearings; the river is continuous class III here and a mistake will put you over the falls. I know a guy who had the misfortune of swimming the falls this spring. He got beat up pretty bad, but was paddling the following weekend. We said to him 'now that you've swum it, running the falls probably won't be too bad--at least you know the consequences of a swim.'
See also the Middle Swift and Lower Swift.
River Features
Put In at Bear Notch Road
Be sure to pull your vehicle fully off the pavement on the north side of the road, perhaps 100 - 200 ft from the bridge. There are paths that lead to an easy drop into this very calm section of the river.
Bear Claw Rapids and Take Out
The end of this run is deceptive and a novice paddler can be lured into sudden trouble. Be sure to stay on river right and take out as soon as the rest area shows up, well above the gorge as written above. There is a series of rising rocks that reach up from the river bed (bear claws) as you come around a blind right-turning corner that can make it tempting to shift to far river left. However, a swim on river left means that you will be racing toward the gorge with less than 1 minute to get out of the water.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportUnfortunately, many gauge links and flow information have been lost since the latest AW code update.
Update - no wood in this section after the floods of the past month.